Education Policy

Requires schools to adopt comprehensive safety policies addressing professional boundaries between staff and students by July 2026. Establishes a statewide database by July 2027 to track school employee misconduct and employment history. Expands mandated child abuse reporting requirements to include private school staff and certain volunteers. Prohibits schools from hiring anyone convicted of violent felonies or sex offenses in positions requiring certification.

Expands career technical education programs by requiring updated industry standards and apprenticeship opportunities. Mandates schools to offer work-based learning programs with credit for students starting in grade 10. Establishes a state framework for youth apprenticeships that combine classroom instruction with paid work experience. Creates an interagency workgroup to develop guidelines and standards for career education programs by 2026.

Expands California school assessment options to include Cambridge International examinations for evaluating student growth. Requires school counselors to promote Cambridge International programs alongside AP and IB options. Establishes formal recognition of Cambridge International programs within California's education system. Enables students who complete Cambridge programs to earn advanced placement credits at universities.

Establishes civil penalties for large platforms over algorithm-driven civil-rights violations. Imposes per-violation penalties up to $1M for intentional, $500k for reckless. Becomes operative January 1, 2027, with severability and void-waiver protections.

Establishes a new one-year American government and civics course curriculum for California high schools. Requires the state to partner with county education offices to develop comprehensive civics teaching materials. Creates a pathway for students to earn the State Seal of Civic Engagement through course completion. Implementation depends on future legislative funding through the state budget.

Allows middle and high school students one excused absence per year for career technical education activities. Requires students to notify schools in advance of career technical education absences. Permits school administrators to approve additional career technical education absences beyond the annual limit. Mandates students complete all missed assignments and tests to receive full credit.

Requires auditors of school districts to complete 24 hours of education in school-specific auditing by 2026. Mandates quality control reviews of charter school auditors every three years to ensure compliance. Establishes stricter peer review requirements for firms conducting school financial audits. Authorizes suspension of auditors who fail to meet professional standards for up to three years.

Modifies charter school renewal standards to require evidence of academic improvement or strong college outcomes. Requires use of verified data for evaluating low-performing charter schools until new growth models are ready. Authorizes two-year renewals for struggling schools and five-year terms for higher-performing charters. Mandates state reimbursement to local agencies for costs of implementing these new requirements.

Requires California high schools to adopt new ethnic studies standards and curriculum by January 2028. Mandates that ethnic studies courses be free from bias and appropriate for students of all backgrounds. Establishes an expert advisory committee to guide development of ethnic studies content and materials. Requires schools to submit their ethnic studies curricula for state review by June 2026.

Extends Paradise Unified's exemption and creates a local reporting program through 2026. Requires a comprehensive admin-to-teacher ratio report due Sept 1, 2026. Declares the act an urgency statute with immediate effect.

Establishes tenant opt-out for third-party ISP subscriptions tied to the tenancy. Applies to tenancies commenced, renewed, or continued on or after Jan 1, 2026. Enables rent deductions if landlords fail to honor the opt-out. Prohibits retaliation and permits bulk-billing arrangements under the rule.

Requires schools to process special education transfers within 30 days for students moving between districts. Mandates schools to accept unofficial records from military families pending official documentation. Establishes electronic enrollment systems for military families transferring to California schools. Requires schools to coordinate special education services immediately when military students transfer.

Expands parental access rights to include both official and unofficial school records of their children. Maintains existing protections that prevent access when prohibited by court orders. Preserves parents' rights to question and receive responses about inaccurate information in records.

Establishes new state funding for transitional kindergarten programs in basic aid school districts starting 2025-26. Requires additional funding for necessary small schools to maintain transitional kindergarten programs. Mandates annual General Fund appropriations to support transitional kindergarten in qualifying schools. Ensures basic aid districts receive supplemental grants without reducing other educational programs.

Establishes a zero-interest loan program to help schools develop workforce housing for educators. Provides loans ranging from $150,000 to $200,000 based on school district size. Requires loan repayment over 5 years through automatic deductions from school funding. Creates a backup security fund to protect against loan defaults.

Expands adornment rights to graduation-related events and includes cap replacements. Establishes pupil-family control over what counts as traditional regalia. Prohibits preapproval and cap-incompatibility requirements while preserving the disruption standard.

Establishes new criteria for reclassifying English learner students as English proficient starting July 2026. Requires English learners to achieve a score of 3H or higher on the state English proficiency test for reclassification. Maintains requirements for teacher evaluation, parent input, and basic skills assessment in reclassification decisions.

Requires immigration enforcement activity to be treated as an emergency for ADA calculations. Caps ADA credit for immigration enforcement-related absences at 10 days per pupil. Requires affidavits and independent study plans, with live instruction or extenuating circumstances. Exempts immigration records from the public records act and funds them; sunsets 2029; repeal 2030.

Requires schools serving grades 5-12 to create annual climate reports starting in the 2026-27 school year. Mandates schools to develop improvement plans when climate deficiencies are identified. Requires schools to present climate reports at public board meetings and post them online within 30 days.

Establishes a pathway for district/COE programs to prepare CLAD, EL, bilingual, and CTEL certificates. Applies the same approval standards used for regionally accredited universities to district/COE programs. Preempts conflicting laws to enable the new approval authority. Provides no new appropriation for implementation.

Establishes a formal LEA housing notice mechanism for LEA-owned land. Requires HCD to make the form available by January 1, 2027 and publish submissions. Creates advisory predevelopment assistance via HCD or contractors. Prioritizes high-need districts and clarifies advisory nature with liability limits.

Requires newcomer-pupil resources be considered in next K–8 ELA/ELD material adoption. Redefines migrant region to COE-centered configurations and COE–nonprofit partnerships. Defines migrant program terms, including quality control and average monthly enrollments. Goes into effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Requires school districts to pay classified employees their regular rate for all mandatory training time. Mandates in-person training for topics like sexual harassment and child abuse reporting. Ensures contracted workers receive equivalent health and retirement benefits as direct employees. Requires real-time question-and-answer sessions during all employee training programs.

Establishes a Pay-It-Forward program allowing UC and CSU students to attend college without paying upfront costs. Requires graduates to repay a percentage of their income instead of taking traditional student loans. Creates a dedicated fund from graduate repayments to support future students' education costs. Mandates UC and CSU campuses to enroll at least 10,000 students in the program by 2030.

Establishes a statewide database to track misconduct investigations of non-teaching school staff by July 2027. Requires applicants for non-teaching school positions to disclose all previous education employment history. Mandates schools to report staff misconduct investigations within 10 days of starting or completing an inquiry. Requires schools to check the database for misconduct history before hiring non-teaching staff.